Clarinet Music on vinyl or CDs

Carol, thanks a lot!

Thanks Newbee!

Mogelsvs, as a matter of fact a friend of mine ust bought this disc with Meyer playing the Weber concerto(there are 2 concertos plus a quintet I think), and it is great. I may get that too. Thanks for the recommendation.

Rushton, thanks!

Schoenberg, ha? He's usually very interesting and I didn't know he wrote for clarinet.

Rubinken, thanks!

Opalchip, haven't heard that disc. I had actually no idea Michaelson played clarinet.
I have the K581 with Stoltzman. I really like the K581 Quintet, it's a beautiful piece along with the K622 Concerto on the same cd, and I liked Stoltzman's performance initially, but his excessive vibrato became a little annoying. I'll see if I can find a copy of Michaelson cd.

I'm really enjoying Thea King's Brahms Clarinet Quintet and Trio cd at this point.

I will be checking out more music that was suggested here. The tough part is finding these in stores. The selection of clarinet music is really poor in Borders and B&N, at least locally.

Please keep the recommendations coming.

Newbee thanks. I will investigate this. I am open to suggestions in jazz as well, although if it is jazz I am buying, I try to buy modern, more avantgarde jazz
I am currently taking a break from traditional and bee-bop.
:)

Anyway, I picked up a couple of CDs today.
Out of all the recordings mentioned, the only disc that I found was Brahms Clarinet Quintet and Clarinet Trio with Thea King. I listened to it on the way home and it is excellent. Thanks Rushton for mentioning Thea King on Hyperion label! Very good, but unfortunately not cheap either. Paid $23 for a single CD.
While I was at B&N buying the above and searching for some more music, I found Gerald Finzi Concerto for Clarinet and Strings, with Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano and on the same disc Charles Villiers Stanford Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. All performed by Emma Johnson with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I like Finzi so I took a chance. I briefly listened to it and Finzi's concerto is a really great piece! Unfortunately I am not thrilled with the performance by Emma Johnson as far as I could tell in the car, but the music is great.

I will start looking on-line to order some of the stuff mentioned here.

Thanks all, and please keep it coming.

Rushton, you're right, the sound quality is very good, despite that this disc was recorded in the beginning of the 80s. I guess the original was still an analog tape...may be.

Rushton, if you don't already have any Sabine Meyer recordings, I highly recommend. Mozart, Webber, anything really. BTW, she plays the German Oehler system clarinet and these instruments have a bit rounder, deeper and richer tone than the Boehm system clarinets.
And Meyer's playing happens to be really impressive.

Opalchip, I didn' risk ordering this in EX condition. I'll try to find one in NM or M, but I will find it.
However, I just ordered from them Bruch Clarinet Concerto with Thea King. I love Bruch's violin concertos but never heard his clarinet concerto. This one was in NM condition.

Thanks for the link!

I just ordered bunch of the stuff recommended here. Can't wait to get it!

Also, I just aquired 2 of the Sabine Meyer recordings on EMI:
1)Weber-Clarinet Concerto Nos.1 & 2, Concertino and Clarinet Quintet
2)Mozart Clarinet Concerto K622, Claud Debussy Premiere Rapsodie, Toru Takemitsu -Fantasmo/Cantos(EMI). What makes this particular recording interesting is the fact that the 3 works performed here are very different. K622 sounds really nice on this recording. It is played on the basset-horn.

Frogman, I read the threads. Great info. I will look into some of it. Thanks!

Got following:
1) Harold Wright with Peter Serkin - Brahms Sonatas and Schumann Fantasy Pieces. This is an excellent CD and I really like Wright's sound and playing. Thanks Dupzyk for recommending this cd.

2) David Shifrin and Carol Rosenberg also Brahms and Schumann. While it is very good, I certainly like Harold Wright's playing a bit more than Shifrin's. Both are great musicians...just a slight preference towards Wright's style.

3) Mozart and Brahms clarinet quintets - Wright w/Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Really good.

4) Copland Clarinet Concerto with Stanley Drucker w/Bernstein and NYP. Excellent as well.

5) Schubert's The Shepherd on the Rock with Harold Wright. Great piece.

Shadorne,
I tried to look for this cd and the only way for me to hear it is to buy it. I kind of suspected that this would be more of a recording statement than anything.
That's the reason why I didn't go crazy trying to find it.
Thanks for the recommendation though.

Lately I've been paying more attention to a performance than a recording quality when purchasing a classical cd.
I really like a good quality recording as well, but unfortunately the combo of good musicianship/recording can be tough to come by among the new or recent realeses sometimes and that mostly leaves the older recordings to be explored.

If you want to hear a very good Mozart Clarinet Concerto try Sabine Meyer. For a Clarinet Quintet, I really liked a recording with Harold Wright. Sabine Meyer also has a recording of the Quintet on EMI but I haven't heard it, although I am pretty confident it must be quiet good.

Speaking of new releases, there is an interesting CD that just hit the stores recently - "Krommer: Double Clarinet Concerto; Spohr: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 2 & 4" with Sabine Meyer and Julian Bliss. I am looking to pick it up next week.
Here is a sneak peak on youtube if you are interested.

Carol, thanks again. You know, Wright's playing on Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock is great but I was also impressed with Benita Valente. She has a crystal clear soprano and the blend of her voice with the sound of clarinet is something really special.
A minor complaint would be about the level of hiss on that particular piece on the cd. It's a bit excessive. But not that much of a concern. Great music though.

I will make sure to check out Morales recordings.